Page 14 of Lunar Bound
Lunar's expression shifted subtly. "That is the official mission. A diplomatic experiment."
"But you have your own agenda," she guessed.
His gaze sharpened. "You are unusually perceptive."
"I'm good at reading people. Even alien people, apparently." She smiled, then grew serious. "Whatever your real reason for being here, I'm glad you came. I've always felt different, as if I were tuned to a frequency no one else could hear. Meeting you confirms that I'm not crazy."
The soft glow of the fungi seemed to pulse gently, as if responding to her words. In this intimate light, Poppy could see more details of Lunar's true nature beneath the deteriorating skin-suit, patterns of darkness that flowed and shifted like liquid shadow.
"Your skin is falling apart," she observed. "Like Solar's was earlier."
Lunar touched the membrane at his neck, where it had begun to separate from his actual form. "The materials were not designed for prolonged use. Earth's atmosphere accelerates the degradation."
"You could take it off," Poppy suggested. "If it's uncomfortable. I don't mind."
He studied her for a long moment, seeming to assess her sincerity. "We were warned that our true forms may be disturbing to human perception."
"Try me," she challenged gently.
After another moment of hesitation, Lunar reached behind his neck. There was a soft hissing sound as he released some hidden mechanism, and the skin-suit began to peel away, falling from his body like a shed snake skin. He took his human clothes off to peel out of the membrane.
Poppy watched in fascination as his form was revealed. Where Solar was a being of pure light, Lunar was composed of what seemed to be living shadow. His body maintained a humanoid shape, but his skin absorbed rather than reflected light, creating a silhouette of perfect darkness outlined by the subtle glow of the fungi. Within that darkness, patterns moved like stars seen through deep space, tiny points of light swirling in cosmic patterns.
She looked down. How could she not? Here was a naked alien. But it was too dark for her to make out any distinct shapes.
"You're beautiful," she whispered, genuinely awed.
Lunar looked surprised, the expression visible in the subtle shift of the star-like patterns within his form. "That is not the typical reaction."
"I've never been typical," Poppy replied with a small smile. "May I..." she hesitated, hand half-raised toward him.
"You wish to touch me?" He sounded genuinely confused by the request.
"If that's okay."
"It is not dangerous, as Solar's energy might be," Lunar said after a moment. "But it will feel unusual."
Poppy reached out slowly, giving him time to withdraw if he changed his mind. Her fingers made contact with his arm, and she gasped softly at the sensation. His skin was cool but not cold, with a strange texture like velvet darkness. Where she touched him, the star-like patterns within his form swirled toward her fingers, as if drawn to her warmth.
"I feel it," she whispered. "Your energy. It's like... like the moment before rain falls, or the instant after a candle is extinguished and smoke twirls up into the air."
Lunar remained perfectly still beneath her touch, but she could feel a subtle tremor running through him. "Your insight is accurate. Few beings outside my kind have ever described the sensation so precisely."
Emboldened, Poppy let her hand trail up his arm to his shoulder. The patterns followed her touch, leaving luminous trails in their wake that slowly faded back to darkness. The sensation was mesmerizing, creating a feedback loop of energy between them.
"You conduct shadow frequencies," Lunar observed, his voice dropping lower. "This is unexpected."
"Is that good or bad?" Poppy asked.
Lunar's hand moved to cover hers, pressing her palm more firmly against his chest. The contact heightened the sensation, sending cool shivers of energy up her arm. It didn't feel like touching a human. It was more like shoving her hand into a ghost, sensing the supernatural essence flowing around her.
"Very good," he murmured, his voice resonating in a way that seemed to bypass her ears to vibrate directly against her bones.
Poppy felt her breath quicken, her body reacting to his closeness in unexpected ways. The energy transfer between them felt deeply personal, more intimate than any physical contact she had known before.
"What do I feel like to you?" she asked.
"Like finding darkness after too much light," Lunar answered. "A relief. A sanctuary." His hand moved to her face, fingers tracing the curve of her cheek with unexpected gentleness. "You absorb and reflect shadow energy in patterns I have only observed in my own kind. It creates a resonance."
